Providing a house, or some other building, with fiber optic service typically entails establishing a fiber optic link from a communication device located outside the house to another communication device inside the house. The outdoor communication device may be a terminal at the curb, a transmission optical fiber located underground, or a box mounted on a pole, for example. The indoor communication device typically includes a transmitter for sending optical signals and a receiver or a detector for converting incoming optical signals into electrical signals.
Conventional approaches to connecting the indoor communication device to the outdoor communication device usually involve two distinct pieces of fiber optic cable, one piece rated for outdoor service and one rated for indoor service. The indoor cable is typically flexible to facilitate snaking the cable through wall, attics, and crawl spaces during installation. Meanwhile, the outdoor cable is typically relatively rigid and may be hardened for burial and/or to withstand environmental exposure. The indoor cable usually has two connectors, one for connecting to the indoor communication device, and one for connecting to the outdoor cable. Similarly, the outdoor cable usually has two connectors, one connecting to the outdoor communication device and one connecting to the indoor cable. Drawbacks of such conventional approaches include expense, labor, optical losses, and reliability issues associated with the connections between the outdoor cable and the indoor cable.
Accordingly, need exists in the art for improved fiber optic cables that can provide robust optical links to support fiber optic access or fiber to the home (“FTTH”). Need further exists for a fiber optic cable that can extend from an outdoor communication device to an indoor communication device via a continuous or unbroken length of optical fiber. Need also exists for a fiber optic cable having one section meeting the particular demands of outdoor service and another section meeting the particular demands of indoor service.